Flash sintering of titanium carbide

In recent years, significant advances have been made in ceramic sintering processes to reduce both the sintering temperature and the time. Notably, flash sintering enables rapid densification within seconds by applying an electric field at significantly lower temperatures than conventional sintering. In the present work, flash sintering of titanium carbide (TiC) was studied with TiAl as a sintering aid. The results demonstrated that addition of titanium aluminide (TiAl) significantly improves the final density, whereas the application of external pressure during sintering does not have a notable impact on densification. Although the process was carried out in air, the oxidation of TiAl or TiC during sintering was almost negligible, this being correlated with the very limited duration of the process (less than a minute). The present work demonstrates the possibility to produce TiC components very rapidly and without the need of a controlled atmosphere by using the flash sintering technique.